Epidemics in US 1628-1918

"In case you ever wondered why a large number of your ancestors
disappeared during a certain period in history, this might help.
Epidemics have always had a great influence on people - and thus
influencing, as well, the genealogists trying to trace them. Many cases of people disappearing from records can be traced to dying during an epidemic or moving away from the affected area. Some of the major epidemics in the United States are listed below:

Years

Area

Epidemic

1628-1631

New England

Small Pox

1638

New England

Small Pox & Spotted Fever

1648-1649

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Small Pox

1657-1658

Boston

Measles

1659

Massachusetts Bay Colony

Throat Distemper

1677-1678

Charlestown & Boston

Small Pox

1679-1680

Virginia

Small Pox

1687

Boston

Measles

1689-1690

New England

Small Pox

1690

New York

Yellow Fever

1693

Boston, MA

Yellow Fever

1696

Jamestown, VA

Small Pox

1699

Charleston & Philadelphia

Yellow Fever

Mar 1699

South Carolina

Small Pox

1702

New York

Yellow Fever

1702-1703

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1706

Charleston

Yellow Fever

1711-1712

South Carolina

Small Pox

1713

Boston

Measles

1715-1725

Most of the Colonies

Small Pox

1721

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1723-1730

Boston, New York, Philadelphia

Small Pox

1729

Boston

Measles

1732

Charleston & New York

Yellow Fever

1732-3

Worldwide

Influenza

1735-1740

New England

Small Pox, Scarlet Fever & Diphtheria

1734

Virginia

Yellow Fever

1738

South Carolina

Smallpox

1739-40

Boston

Measles

1741

Virginia

Yellow Fever

1747

CT,NY,PA,SC

Measles

1752

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1759

N. Amer [areas inhabited by white people]

Measles

1760-1761

Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachussetts, Charleston

Small Pox

1761

N. Amer and West Indies

Influenza

1762

Philadelphia

Yellow Fever

1763

Philadelphia

Throat Distemper

1764

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1769

New York

Throat Distemper

1772

N. America

Measles

1772-1774

New England

Small Pox

1775

N. Amer [especially hard in NE]

epidemic Unknown

1775-6

Worldwide [one of the worst epidemics]

Influenza

1776

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1778

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1783

Dover, DE ["extremely fatal"]

Bilious Disorder

1788

Philadelphia and New York

Measles

1792

Boston, MA

Small Pox

1793

Vermont

[a "putrid" fever] and Influenza

1793

VA [killed 500 in 5 counties in 4 weeks]

Influenza

1793

Philadelphia [one of the worst epidemics]

Yellow Fever

1793

Harrisburg, PA [many unexplained deaths]

Unknown

1793

Middletown, PA [many mysterious deaths]

Unknown

1794

Philadelphia, PA

Yellow Fever

1796-7

Philadelphia, PA

Yellow Fever

1798

Philadelphia, PA [one of the worst]

Yellow Fever

1803

New York

Yellow Fever

1820-3

Nationwide [starts-Schuylkill River and
spreads]

"Fever"

1831-2

Nationwide [brought by English emigrants]

Asiatic Cholera

1832

NY City and other major cities

Cholera

1833

Columbus, OH

Cholera

1834

New York City

Cholera

1837

Philadelphia

Typhus

1841

Nationwide [especially severe in the south]

Yellow Fever

1847

New Orleans

Yellow Fever

1847-8

Worldwide

Influenza

1848-9

North America

Cholera

1849

New York

Cholera

1850

Nationwide

Yellow Fever

1850-1

North America

Influenza

1851

Coles Co., IL, The Great Plains, and Missouri

Cholera

1852

Nationwide [New Orleans-8,000 die in summer]

Yellow Fever

1855

Nationwide [many parts]

Yellow Fever

1857-9

Worldwide [one of the greatest epidemics]

Influenza

1860-1

Pennsylvania

Smallpox

1865-73

Philadelphia, NY, Boston, New Orleans

Smallpox

Baltimore, Memphis, Washington DC

Cholera

A series of recurring epidemics of:

Typhus,
Typhoid, Scarlet Fever, Yellow Fever

1873-5

N. America and Europe

Influenza

1878

New Orleans [last great epidemic]

Yellow Fever

1885

Plymouth, PA

Typhoid

1886

Jacksonville, FL

Yellow Fever

1918

Worldwide[high point yr] more people were hospitalized in WWI from this epidemic than wounds. US Army training camps became death camps, with 80% death rate in some camps